How to grow cauliflower at home.
Cauliflower is an annual vegetable native to the Mediterranean region. It belongs to the cabbage family and is likely to have originated from broccoli. Cauliflower can grow up to 30 inches tall and 20 inches wide and comes in colours like purple, yellow, and orange. Depending on the variety, there are early, mid-season, and late-season varieties. Here is how you can grow cauliflower from seeds.
Growing conditions for cauliflower:
Soil: Cauliflower can grow in all types of soil. The early-season varieties can grow in lighter soils. Mid and late-season varieties can grow in heavy clay soils.
Temperature: Depending on the variety cauliflower is known to tolerate different kinds of temperatures. Tropical varieties can tolerate temperatures up to 35°C. Temperate varieties grow best when temperatures are between 17 to 23°C.
Watering: You can water your cauliflower regularly to keep the soil moist.
Fertilizing: Cauliflower grown in raised beds or the soil can be fertilised 3 times during the growing season. If you are growing cauliflower in containers, you can fertilise them once in 3 weeks. Cauliflower requires a balanced fertiliser of all nutrients.
How to grow cauliflower at home
You can start seeds 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost date. Use biodegradable pots as cauliflower does not like to have its roots disturbed. Take a biodegradable pot and fill it with seed starting mix. Sow 2 seeds in the pot. Your seeds will germinate within 7 to 10 days. Once they grow a few inches tall you can transplant them. You can grow a single cauliflower in a 12-inch pot. For the potting mix take 20% coarse sand, 10%perlite, 10% vermiculite and 60% compost. Once the ground warms up in spring season you can transplant them to the soil. Amend the soil with compost or aged manure before you transplant your cauliflower seedlings. Depending on the variety cauliflower can take time to harvest. Early-season varieties can take up to 50 to 6o days to harvest. Late-season varieties can take up to 80 to 100 days to harvest. Cauliflower can be harvested when the head is 2 to 3 inches. Blanch it that time.
Common pests and diseases
Cauliflower can get attacked by a variety of pests such as aphids, root rot, cabbage loopers, maggots, cabbage worms, powdery mildew, thrips, and white rust. Practising companion plating, using beneficial insects, using neem oil and diatomaceous earth are some effective ways to control these pests.
Read more:
- How to grow cabbage.
- Vegetables to grow well in the fall season.
- Flowers to grow in the fall season.